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Paris Transport Strike

Posted by (Toronto) on

Hi,

I posted for the first time the other day for help with our Paris Museum Passes for mid-February & now I'm not even sure we're going to get to use them :( . I read in the news that there are RATP/transport strikes scheduled on the date we're supposed to arrive in Paris via Eurostar from London (the Unsa-RATP union wants workers to make our arrival date "black Monday for public transport"). Though most of our itinerary is walkable, I am a bit concerned as sites may be closed if employees can't get to work, from what I've read. My main questions are:

  1. Would Eurostar be involved in the strike? We are arriving via Eurostar on the day the strike starts--will our travel into Paris be delayed/affected? We are within walking distance of Gare du Nord, so we should not have an issue getting to where we're staying. I just want to know that we will be able to get to Paris.

  2. We are only in Paris for a few days. I think these strikes continue for several days/weeks, so I am concerned about us being able to leave from CDG to go home. My first issue is that my daughter is leaving on a flight several hours before us (she needs to be at the airport by 8:30 a.m.) and needs to make her way to the airport by herself. What is the best way for her to get there safely at that hour if there are strikes going on and traffic may be very heavy due to the strikes? Same for the rest of us who will be leaving a few hours later. Our plane tickets are non-refundable/non-changeable, so we are stuck leaving from Paris as we would forfeit the entire ticket if we make any changes.

  3. Issue of lesser concern is wondering if the Eiffel Tower refunds tickets if there is a strike. I can't seem to find any positive information about that.

Thanks in advance for your help! Any advice would be appreciated!

Posted by
9550 posts

So far — and I stress, so far — nobody else has called to join the strike except UNSA (which is the top union for RATP workers). That means that none of the SNCF unions have said they will strike — although obviously there is still time for this to change.

1) if None of the SNCF unions strike, there won’t be any problems with Eurostar.

2) so far, UNSA seems to be focusing on a one-day strike — I.e. ONLY Feb 17, not a long drawn out one. So days beyond Feb 17 wouldn’t be affected.

3) I don’t know anything about whether the Eiffel Tower gives refunds.

Posted by
13905 posts

For your daughter's departure back to CDG, just have your hotel call her a taxi. Ask them for advice on pick up time the day before departure based on what their assessment of traffic issues at the time. If they think traffic will be an issue then have them pick her up at 630 or 7. If its an international flight she'll need to be to the airport 3 hours ahead. It will be a fixed fare and it sounds like you are on the Right Bank, so 50E plus a 4E booking fee. To me as a solo female traveler, this is an extremely easy way to go.

What time is your flight? Is it long enough between times that you would not want to go in the same cab with her?

Did you already buy the Museum Passes?

Posted by
9550 posts

One small correction to Pam’s excellent advice. The fixed taxi fare has gone up by 3 euros so from the Right Bank it would be 53 euros plus the 4 or 7 euros to reserve.

Posted by
13905 posts

Gosh Kim, I missed that. Thank you so much! Add 3 from Left Bank as well?

Posted by
9550 posts

@Pam — yes. New rates are
€53 to/from Right Bank / CDG

€58 to/from Left Bank / CDG

Posted by
2542 posts

Just to alert others, the rates to ORY raised by 2€ and are now 37€/32€ for the Right/Left Bank respectively.

Posted by
9550 posts

FYI, unfortunately three more RATP (Paris transport) unions have joined calls for the strike, making it more likely that there will be problems on Paris public transport on the 17th.

There is still no word fromSNCF that rail workers will be striking . . .

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